Many single and multiplayer playing card-based games or “card games” games have been devised that require the use of a deck of fifty-two playing cards. The deck consists of cards of four suits, namely spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. Each suit contains thirteen cards which, when ranked in decreasing order, consist of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and a 2.
During a “round of play” for many conventional card games, a dealer deals each player an initial “hand” or set of cards. The player then reviews his or her hand (without revealing all or a portion of their hand to the other players), discards some or all of his or her cards, and the dealer then gives the player an equal number of cards to replace the cards discarded. This procedure of discarding and replacing cards may occur one or more times, until finally the round of play terminates and all of the players reveal their hands to the other participating players, at which time the winning hand is determined.
One particular card game is poker. The game of poker is conventionally played by a plurality of players who are dealt cards from a deck of fifty-two playing cards. A poker hand typically consists of five or more cards, and has a winning high value or poker rank that is determined by the combinations set forth below, which are ranked in decreasing order based upon the mathematical probability of their occurrence:
A. Royal Flush—Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10, all of the same suit;
B. Straight Flush—five cards in ranking sequence, all of the same suit;
C. Four-of-a-kind—four cards of the same rank;
D. Full House—three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank;
E. Flush—five cards of the same suit, not in ranking sequence;
F. Straight—five cards in ranking sequence, not all of the same suit;
G. Three-of-a-Kind—three cards of the same rank;
H. Two Pairs—two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank;
I. One Pair—two cards of the same rank.
A hand that does not have any of the above combinations is ranked by the highest-ranking card it contains, as well as the next highest cards in decreasing order of their rank.
Poker is often played with a deck containing one or two Jokers as a fifty-third and/or fifty-fourth card, designated as wild (i.e. to represent any card its holder does not have, or to represent an Ace or any card needed to complete a Straight or a Flush). There are also numerous variations of poker with different wild cards and varied payouts and bonuses for different types of hands.
The two basic forms of poker are draw poker and stud poker. With each form, each player normally places a bet of a predetermined amount (generally referred to as an “ante”) before any cards are dealt. The ante is a sort of entrance fee for each player, and gives the player the right to receive an initial hand of cards. In the game of draw poker, each player is dealt five cards face down. Each player reviews his or her hand to determine whether to withdraw from the game (generally referred to as “folding”), or to continue participating in the round. Each active or remaining player may then, at his or her option, discard any of his or her cards, and the dealer then gives the player an equal number of cards to replace the cards discarded. This replacement of discarded cards is called the “draw”, and the right of each player to discard cards from his or her closed five-card hand as initially dealt and to draw the same number of cards as replacements for the discarded cards, is one of the characteristics distinguishing draw poker from stud poker. In stud poker, cards are not normally discarded.
A second betting round among the remaining players follows, after which there is a “showdown” in which the players' hands are compared with one another to determine which player wins. Conventionally, in both draw poker and stud poker, the player holding the highest-ranking poker hand of all players at the showdown wins.
Poker, as well as many other forms of playing card games such as blackjack and the like, has been adapted in various forms to casino play. In one type of casino poker, each player plays against each of the other players seated about a table with all bets being contributed to a pot, which is the conventional manner by which the game is played. In another type of casino poker, each of the players plays against the dealer, wherein whether the player wins depends on whether the player's hand is superior to the dealer's hand, and wherein the payout is determined by a predetermined formula (i.e. the player is given 1000 to 1 odds that he or she will beat the dealer by way of a royal flush).
Generally, the casino provides the table accommodations along with, in most jurisdictions, a dealer who deals the cards, provides gaming tokens or chips to the players for placing bets, watches the pot to make sure all the players are contributing chips as they should, and compares and announces the winning hands. In return for these services, the casino charges a fee, such as a “rake” (a portion of the pot) or an hourly fee collected from each player.
The casino may also or in the alternative provide players with the opportunity to play poker using a conventional video gaming machine. These video gaming machines generally operate in the following manner. The player provides the “ante” by inserting money or tokens into the machine. The video gaming machine then randomly deals a hand of cards from a standard deck of fifty-two cards. The cards are randomly chosen by the processor and visually displayed to the player on a video display. The player then draws by selecting which cards to discard. The video gaming machine then randomly deals the replacement cards from the cards remaining in the deck, and displays the replacement cards on the video display. The payout provided by such conventional video gaming machines, if any, is generally determined by the content of the final hand. The final hand is compared against an “initial bet pay table” that determines the payout for the player. See, Table 2 for a sample pay table.
However, while such conventional video gaming machines do provide a player with the opportunity to play conventional poker, they can fail to maintain the game at a level challenging enough to keep the player interested. There is a constant need in the gaming industry for new games that keep players interested, and substantially reduce the possibility that players will cease playing and wagering or reduce the amount of play and wagering due to lack of interest or challenge. Hence, conventional video gaming machines can fail to captivate the attention of the player, and therefore fail to maximize revenue for the casino. Many video gaming machines have been previously devised to overcome this problem by adding rules or procedures to the game of poker itself.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,843 to Roberts discloses a method for playing blackjack or poker that can be played on a conventional play table or on a video gaming machine. Where the game is played on a conventional play table, the playing table includes prop or side bet spots. During the game, a player can make a side bet on what the characteristics of the initial hand of cards (for example, during blackjack, that the first two cards drawn will be odd, will be a pair, will be of a particular suit, etc.). The side bet can take into account the player's cards in combination with the dealer's cards. Before an initial hand of cards is dealt, the player places a bet on the overall outcome, and places another bet on what the characteristics of the first two or three cards dealt will be.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,228 to Kangsanaraks discloses a method for playing a card game, wherein the goal of the game is to acquire a hand having a total of 9 points. The Ace through 9 of each suite are counted at face value, and the ten, Jack, Queen and King are counted as zero. The player can automatically win additional money if the player has a two or a three-card flush. Two cards are initially dealt in the game, and the player can optionally draw a third card.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,997 to Wood discloses an “in between” type card game. In this game, two cards are drawn. A wager is then made on whether the next drawn card will fall within the range defined by the first two drawn cards. For example, if a 2 and 5 card are drawn first, then player can then wager an amount that the next drawn card will be either a 3 or a 4 card.
Unfortunately, these games can complicate play with sophisticated concepts and rules, which are geared more towards players with extensive playing. Furthermore, these previously devised games require a great deal of time to complete a single round of play, which is not conducive to a casino environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 discloses a multi-hand poker game, wherein the player makes an initial pay table bet and plays a number of poker games simultaneously. As typical of current video poker games the player makes only an initial wager before the game starts, and before he sees the cards in the initial deal. In contrast to these traditional games, the present invention allows the player to make a wager on the composition of the final hand after the initial deal. This is more exciting since the player can wager on a specific card combination in the final hand that is quite likely, as opposed to the initial wager that is made before it is known how the hand will develop.
Therefore, it is a first object of the present invention to provide an electronic game that adds to the excitement of poker card games.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide an electronic game that is easy to play, and requires a minimal knowledge of the workings of any particular playing card game.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a playing card game that can be implemented on a video gaming machine in a casino for gambling purposes.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a playing card-related electronic game that provides a player with the opportunity to place two wagers, a first wager wherein the player bets that the final hand will contain any one of a plurality of preselected card combinations (initial paytable bet), and a second wager wherein the player bets that the final hand will contain a specific card combination. By giving the player the opportunity to make this additional wager more money is bet on a poker game in almost the same amount of gambling time. This increases the casino income per hour of gambling.